FCC To Investigate Cell Phone Unlocking Ban | TechCrunch

Following an online uproar over a law banning the unlocking of cell phones, the Federal Communications Commission will investigate whether the ban is harmful to economic competitiveness and if the executive branch has any authority to change the law.

The ?ban raises competition concerns; it raises innovation concerns,? FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski told me last night at a TechCrunch CrunchGov event at our San Francisco headquarters.

Until earlier this year, consumers were free to ?unlock? their smartphones, which permitted them to switch carriers. For six years, the Library of Congress exempted cell phone unlocks from the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, which bans ?circumvention? of copy protection schemes. The decision was reversed during the last round of triennial reviews.

Now users who dare to modify software on the devices they own are subject to legal penalties.

Genachowski isn?t sure what authority he has, but if he finds any, given the tone of the conversation, it?s likely he will exert his influence to reverse the decision. ?It?s something that we will look at at the FCC to see if we can and should enable consumers to use unlocked phones.?

Source: http://techcrunch.com/2013/02/28/fcc-to-investigate-cell-phone-unlocking-ban/

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